ABC’s David Muir brought his “Made in America” series on the road yesterday, hosting an event at the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce with WPVI anchor Brian Taff.
Muir, the weekend anchor of “ABC World News,” joined Taff, who anchors the 4 p.m. newscast on the ABC O&O, to talk about the series, which showcases American manufacturing and the ordinary things that can be done to create jobs in the U.S.
Muir and Taff talked about two Pennsylvania-based companies — Nth Solutions and Sun and Earth — that are expanding their workforces. Read more
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Scott Williams is joining WTXF as chief meteorologist, the Philadelphia Fox O&O confirmed to TVSpy today.
Williams joins the station from The Weather Channel, where he is the early-morning meteorologist. He replaces John Bolaris, who parted ways with the station in January after serving a suspension for comments he made in an interview with Playboy.
Williams’ hire is effective today. He will make his on-air debut in Philadelphia on June 4.
>Update: News director Steve Schwaid‘s announcement to WTXF staffers is after the jump. Read more
Philadelphia Magazine takes a long look at the decline of local sports in the market, which one sportscaster calls “soul-crushing.” Sportscasters “are doing little more than reciting scores and highlights that are hours old” on the nightly newscasts, the article says:
“Twenty years ago, everybody sat down before or after dinner to watch Al or Gary Papa give them their sports news,”[WCAU sports director Vai] Sikahema says. “Now, you can get it anyplace: iPads, smartphones. We’re competing for a slice of pie that gets smaller and smaller.”
Back then, sports could get four minutes or occasionally more in a newscast. But trouble loomed in the form of market researchers, who told network news directors that the future was in weather, not highlights. Forecasts were moved up from the end of the newscast to the middle, and expanded. Read more
Schwartz’s warning made an impact almost immediately, as one viewer went to the emergency room after watching the WCAU story and found out that his main artery was 99% blocked, just like Schwartz’s had been.
“I was watching the weatherman and the weatherman told me not to mess around and go to the hospital,” WCAU viewer Alan Aarons said in a recent interview with the NBC station (video after the jump). Read more
WCAU chief meteorologist Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz is resting in a Philadelphia hospital after undergoing double bypass heart surgery this morning.
“Glenn is recuperating well and is in good spirits,” WCAU news director Chris Blackman said. “He feels fortunate that he recognized the signs of potential trouble. We’re all keeping him in our thoughts and wish him a speedy recovery.”
As Schwartz spends the next several weeks recuperating, the NBC station plans to run a series of special segments about heart health. Read more
Erin O’Hearn is returning to WPVI to anchor the Sunday newscasts after more than a year off the air.
O’Hearn has been on maternity leave from the Philadelphia ABC O&O since last year. A WPVI spokesperson told the Philadelphia Daily News the station is “thrilled to have her back.”
O’Hearn will be anchoring the Sunday morning and midday newscasts while Nydia Han, who is an anchor and consumer reporter at WPVI, is out on maternity leave. She will also work on special reports for the station, according to the Daily News.
A WTXF viewer donated a car to a gunshot victim after hearing his story on the Philadelphia Fox O&O.
Robert Smith, the victim of a gunshot wound, was featured in a segment on one of the station’s newscasts last week. WTXF reported that Smith’s car was auctioned off by the city during the two months he was recovering in the hospital. Read more
Former Philadelphia anchor Larry Mendte has penned a column in the April edition of Philadelphia magazine about the “desperate” state of local news in the city. Mendte, currently a commentator at WPIX in New York City, was fired from KYW in 2008 after a highly-publicized tryst with co-anchor Alycia Lane. He writes:
The world has changed, and TV news hasn’t. Anchors sit at a desk at a designated time, tossing to reporters at the scene of the story you already read about that morning. The weatherperson talks forever in front of a map; the sports anchor shows you 10 seconds of highlights from three games. As it was in the ’70s, so it is now. My kids and their friends from elementary school could do a similar newscast with Flip cams, Skype, a green screen and video from YouTube, and it would be a heck of a lot more interesting.
Local news has to start not only changing with the times, but catching up with the times. We already have the information; tell us what it means. Read more
Smith moves to Jacksonville from Philadelphia, where he has worked in public relations since 2010. Before that, he spent six years as a reporter for KYW, the CBS O&O in Philadelphia. He has also worked at WICU in Erie, PA, KIEM in Eureka, CA and WLNY in Long Island.
Smith started at WTEV-WAWS as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor earlier this month.
ABC’s David Muir brought his “Made in America” series on the road yesterday, hosting an event at the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce with WPVI anchor Brian Taff.
Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online 
Scott Williams
Philadelphia Magazine 
Erin O’Hearn
Former Philadelphia anchor 
Longtime WTXF meteorologist 
Nadine Cheung
Editor, The Job Post
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